We usually hear questions like “ Is Altera Cyclone IV EP4CE15E22C8N or Xilinx Spartan-6 proper for my PCB design?”, or “How much is their capacity?”. Although both of them are FPGA, there are some differences between these two if we explore their specification carefully.
Know About the Specification of Altera Cyclone IV EP4CE15E22C8N
| Brand | ALTERA |
| Model | EP4CE15E22C8N |
| Type | FPGA-Programmable |
| RoHS | Yes |
| Family | Cyclone IV E |
| Logic Element Quantities | 15408 |
| Logical Array Blocks | 963 LAB |
| Work Voltage | 1V to 1.2V |
| Work Temperature | 0-70 centigrade degree |
| PCB Assembly Technique | SMT |
| Package | QFP-144 |
| Maximum Work Frequency | 200NHz |
| Total Memory | 504 Kb |
| Weight | 110g |
| User I/O Banks | 8 |
| Maximum user I/O | 343 |
EP4CE15E22C8N in Altera Cyclone IV family gains much popularity from PCB component buyers. First of all, it contains 15408 logic elements, which is not the top one among its family but sufficient to handle the requirement of most PCB designs. Though 504 Kbits embedded memory and 56 embedded 18×18 multipliers are of middle level in the product range, it possesses the largest amount of general-purpose PLL(Phase Locking Loop), totally four units. Besides, 20 global clock networks, which is the best configuration in this product range, are equipped in EP4CE15E22C8N. When it comes to the Input or output, we highly recommended due to its good cost performance since EP4CE15E22C8N has eight user I/O bank with 343 maximum user I/O.
What’s more, it is packed in the form of QFP-144 and weights about 110 g. The work voltage for it is from 1V to 1.2V. The work temperature range for it is 0 to 70 centigrade degree. Last but not least, it is programmable for specific requirement if you have a good command of integrated circuits and computing knowledge.
Know About the Specification of Xilinx Spartan-6 XC6SLX9
| Brand | Xilinx |
| Model | XC6SLX9 |
| Type | FPGA-Programmable |
| Family | Spartan-6 |
| Logic Cells | 9152 |
| Configurable Logic Blocks | Slice: 1430
Flip-Flops:11440 Max Distributed RAM: 90Kb |
| Work Voltage | 1.2V |
| Work Temperature | -40 to 100 centigrade degree |
| PCB Assembly Technique | SMT |
| Maximum Work Frequency | 1080NHz |
| RAM Block | 18Kb:32
Max: 576 Kb |
| Total I/O Bank | 4 |
| Max User I/O | 200 |
XC6SLX9 also perform well as EP4CE15E22C8N with its unique construction. It has 9152 logic cells and configurable logic blocks with 1430 slices, 11440 Filp-Flops and 90Kb distributed RAM. When it comes to digital signal processing, sixteen DSP48A1 slices carried by XC6SLX9 are so versatile, serving as multiplier, multiplicative accumulator, pre-adder/subtracter, follow-by multiplicative accumulator, follow-by multiplier adder, wide bus multiplexer, amplitude comparator, and wide counter. For memory, there is 32 RAM block with 18 Kb capacity. And four I/O banks with a maximum of 200 user I/Os.
Compare Altera Cyclone IV EP4CE15E22C8N to Xilinx Spartan-6 XC6SLX9
Different Logic Structure Between EP4CE15E22C8N Vs. XC6SLX9
A logic element, which contains four LUT and one Filp-flops, is the basic unit of logic structure for EP4CE15E22C8N. In contrast, a configurable logic block is the fundamental unit of logic structure for XC6SLX9, containing eight LUT.
Different Quantities of Logic Resource Between EP4CE15E22C8N Vs. XC6SLX9
From the perspective of logic resource, Cyclone IV EP4CE15E22C8N perform better than XC6SLX9. 15408 logic elements are equipped in it. In other words, it carries 61632 LUT and 15408 filp-flops(FF). XC6SLX9, however, comes with only 1430 slice and 11440 FF. That means only 5720 LUT and 11440FF is equipped.
Different Input and Output Between EP4CE15E22C8N Vs. XC6SLX9
In terms of I/O, EP4CE15E22C8N has good competitive edge than XC6SLX9. It has 8 user I/O banks and 343 maximum user I/O, while XC6SLX9 is just on a half level with 4 I/O banks and 200 maximum user I/O.
Different Application Between EP4CE15E22C8N Vs. XC6SLX9
With more logical units, memory resources and I/O interfaces, EP4CE15E22C8N is more professional in high-speed signal transmission and serial interface protocols. This suits it for complex applications that require high performance and high-speed data transmission, such as high-performance digital signal processing, high-speed communications and video processing.
XC6SLX9 features high cost performance, low power consumption and high reliability, so it is more suitable for middle and low-end applications that are cost sensitive or require large-scale IO interfaces, such as general digital logic, combinatorial logic, sequential logic and other applications. It is popular in the field of digital signal processing, image processing, communication and other fields.
Takeaway
To sum up, whether choose EP4CE15E22C8N or Xilinx Spartan-6 XC6SLX9 depends on the practical requirements of your PCB. And a proper chip must be important for a useful PCB.
